


Just my luck

by Nemurenai



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, KuroKen - Freeform, M/M, Mobile Games, i guess theres a bit of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-17 05:43:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10587633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nemurenai/pseuds/Nemurenai
Summary: You'd think that 1/100 is a small chance. But not for some people.Kenma starts playing a mobile game and of course Lev is there (to be a bother).





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't know anything about Japanese mobile games I recommend you read the end notes for this chapter. If you already play mobage I think you'll be okay for the fic.

"Good morning Kenma-San! What are you doing?!" The tall, silver haired boy leapt over towards a familiar figure, hunched with his head down. Seemingly shrinking into the ground upon hearing his voice.

"Nothing." The setter replied quietly, his golden eyes still glued to the screen in his hands. He walked a little faster, hoping the overly enthusiastic boy would leave him alone, but that was wishful thinking.

"Is that a game on your phone Kenma-san? It looks interesting! What's it about?" Lev bounded back and forth as the setter walked. Obviously he wasn't listening to what Kenma had said. 

"It's just a mobile game." He replied, hoping Lev would leave it at that.

It wasn't _just_ a mobile game, it was the newest one released last night, "Gate Grand Fantasy" which Kenma has been keenly anticipating, refreshing madly so he could get onto the website for pre-sign ups months in advance and downloading the game the moment it was released.

He had stayed up all night grinding his character and, despite the complaints of server overloads and constant crashes, he managed to level himself up to level 100, placing himself among the top 50 players in the country. However, to maintain his position he had to constantly play, storing up the rewards of his high ranking for more crucial moments.

 

Not that Lev needed to know any of that.

 

The setter turned abruptly, skimming between the school gates as Lev continued to hound him with curious questions. The two were already late for morning practice and so the moment they were through the gymnasium door Yaku had dragged Lev off by the ear for which Kenma was thankful.

"Moving at your own pace as always Kenma- whoa what's with those eye bags." Kuroo looked down at his withered teammate, attention focused on the small screen in his hands. There were prominent dark circles under the boy's eyes from the lack of sleep which Lev had somehow failed to notice.

"You alright? Maybe you should lie down in the club room for a bit." The captain suggested. He didn't want his setter collapsing in the middle of practice.

"Ahh." The shorter boy responded before ambling off and disappearing around the corner.

"That guy...he's not even listening..." Kuroo eyed the setter before turning to resume practice with the rest of the team.

 

* * *

 

"Kenma-san! You didn't join us at practice the other morning so you need to do some spikes with me!!" The half Russian bounded into the classroom, seemingly impervious to the glances from the seniors in the room.

"Be quiet Lev. Why did you come all the way here..." Kenma was highly aware of the sets of eyes falling on him as the giant approached. He glanced up at the smiling boy before returning his gaze to his phone screen nervously.

"Oh it's that game again! You must really like it! Is it fun?"

Just as Kenma was about to reply with the same old "not really" to extinguish the conversation the update for the game finished, emitting a small chiming sound as it did.

Lev watched as the setter's eyes lit up, his gaze drifting left to right as he skimmed over the text that appeared on the tiny screen, tapping intermittently before some illustrations appeared across the interface.

"Woah that character looks cool!" Lev bent over Kenma's desk to get a better look. Which prompted the setter to swivel away from him.

"It's just the limited ultra-rare character for the game's opening event gacha." Kenma informed the silver haired boy before completely turning his back on Lev.

"I don't know what that means but Kenma-san's good at games so you have him already, right?" Lev was hooked, despite not knowing much about the game itself. Seeing Kenma excited got him excited.

"The game just updated...there's no way I would have him already..." Kenma mumbled. He could feel all his gaming energy being sapped up by the overly enthusiastic Lev. Explaining to the first year wouldn't amount to anything, "Lev could you-"

"How do you get him!?" Lev was in front of Kenma again, staring down at the screen in the setter's hands.

Kenma sighed, "you do a gacha summon, usually you save up to do ten summons. Then it's up to chance. The chance of getting one is one percent. One in a hundred."

"That's pretty hard..." Lev imagined doing one hundred spikes and not knowing when he'd score one point, "but not impossible! Let's do it Kenma-san! Let's get this event something!"

Kenma sighed. Somehow it went from Kenma's game to him and Lev's game in the span of five minutes.

The setter reasoned the possibilities of getting Lev to leave, concluding that the best way would probably be showing the half Russian how difficult it was to actually obtain this character. It was wasteful of his in-game resources, but it seemed like the best solution.

"Alright." Kenma tapped the phone a couple of times before spinning it to face the first year, who watched on like a child waiting to open his Christmas presents.

"Just tap here, then confirm." Kenma instructed and taller boy obeyed, pressing the pad of his large fingers on the confirmation button.

"And then you just wait."

The two stared at the elaborate animations spinning across the small display. One summon, two, three, four.... There wasn't any hope.

Kenma took a second to look out the window, thinking about how he could best retrieve his lost resources in the most efficient way.

"KENMA-SAN!!" Lev suddenly shot up, "LOOK KENMA-SAN IT'S _HIM_!!" He shoved the phone over enthusiastically into the setter’s face.

For a second Kenma thought the boy was mistaken, but after taking a hold of the phone and having a proper look at the summoning results it was all very real.

"You're joking right..." He breathed. Eyes wide in disbelief.

"SEE KENMA-SAN I TOLD YOU IT WASN'T IMPOSSIBLE!" The silver haired boy was shouting and jumping as if he'd won the lottery, gaining him curious stares from inside and outside the classroom.

The ring of the school bell snapped Kenma out of his disbelief, "you should leave." He told the first year as the room started to fill with the sounds of lively chatter, scraping chairs and rustling papers.

"Okay bye-bye! See you at practice!" The silver haired boy disappeared out the door, waving as he did.

Kenma waved back weakly before dropping into his chair, feeling terribly exhausted all of a sudden. He knew without a doubt that he'd be seeing Lev's face more than usual for the next few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised I wrote a rather self serving fic with a lot of jargon, especially if you don't play mobile games so here's a glossary for your reading pleasure. (or alternatively you can download the Haikyuu mobile game 'Donpisha' and learn first hand).
> 
> Gacha- Based on the word gachapon, basically by attempting the gacha you get a set of randomised characters or items in game by paying some in game currency, some are useful, rarer ones more so. Usually you can save up currency to do a 10x1 summon/'roll' which usually costs less than doing 10 single rolls.
> 
> Summons- The word for this differs from game to game, 'scouts', 'rolls', 'summons','scratches' but basically it's just getting a character/item from a gacha. I chose to go with summon.
> 
> Limited ultra-rare- Limited, a character/item that can only be gotten in the game between a set date/time. Ultra rare being the 1% Kenma explained.
> 
> Event Gacha- Gacha that you can get the limited characters/items from.
> 
> Most Japanese mobile games have similar gacha systems and play (depending on the type of game but for Kenma's sake its a tactical, turn based fighting game). Getting an ultra-rare card (5 stars or UR etc) is pretty much like winning the lottery.


	2. Chapter 2

Keeping his position in Gate Grand Fantasy wasn't difficult for Kenma after Lev had done that summon for him. He had gained a lot of useful items as well as the event limited character. In addition, he could play the more challenging levels that he had anticipated, but couldn't do so before due to the lack of power in his team which excited him.

The down side to it all was that Lev was by his side for more than just practice. The first year seemed to enjoy walking home alongside him despite his lack of responses and lack of enthusiasm in entertaining the younger boy's questions.

Kenma secretly hoped that Lev would lose interest after a while. So that he could play in peace, especially because the taller boy bought so much attention to them both.

However, the setter realised that he had made a terrible mistake.

Lev had proudly told the rest of the volleyball team about their triumph, spending most, if not all, of their breaks during practice recounting the moment it had happened. To the point where Yaku had to constantly drag him off for practice receives to shut him up.

 

* * *

 

"Kenma-san!" The half Russian called out from behind him for the fifteenth time in a row. The setter stopped abruptly in his tracks. Kuroo, who was walking behind him, almost crashing right into the shorter boy. 

"What." The setter's reply was short and sharp.

"Now, now..." Kuroo put himself between the two as a precaution.

"I was thinking...could I do that summoning gacha thing again?"

"I don't want to." The words were muffled into his chest as Kenma stared down at his screen, brows furrowed.

Kuroo glanced at Lev who seemed a bit confused, bending over casually to glance at his friend before straightening himself. "Kenma's tired Lev, how about another day?"

"But Kuroo-san I have a good feeling about this!  A very good feeling!" Lev's gaze was piercing, almost intimidating. A gaze similar to when he was intent on scoring the final point in a set.

"I tried." Kuroo shrugged before patting Kenma on the shoulder, " I don't think he'll budge."

Kenma was tired. "This is the last time." He warned Lev, reluctantly holding out his phone.

"Okay!" Lev nodded aggressively before hurriedly retrieving the phone. Kenma had doubts that the first year knew what 'last time' meant.

 

* * *

 

The three boys crowded around the phone outside the convenience store, staring down, once again, at the tiny screen in Lev's large hands.

 

"There's a different character this time! She looks cool too!" The tallest boy exclaimed.

 

"Well, there's a few different ultra-rare characters you can get..."

 

"So basically it's hard to get these "ultra-rare" characters?" Kuroo clarified. He knew less than Lev did about games.

 

"Yeah."

 

"Kuroo-san! Kenma-san! I'm starting!"

 

"You don't have to tell us...."

 

Everyone held their breath as the summoning animations started up.

 

"Hey Kenma. It's glowing gold."

 

But the boy wasn't listening, his eyes where wide, transfixed on the screen before him.

 

"Huh. The next ones not."

 

"Be quiet Kuroo-san!!"

 

"Like you're one to talk."

 

"Hey this one’s gold too Kenma-san!!"

 

"Both of you. Be quiet."

 

The last summon was approaching and gold sparks sprinkled across the display.

 

"THERE KENMA-SAN ITS THAT COOL CHARACTER!!" Lev almost threw the phone up in excitement before Kenma quickly snatched it up.

 

Kuroo didn't quite understand what the hype was about but he smiled and clapped his teammates on the back. "You two did great! Let's get something to eat to celebrate." He steered the jumping Lev into the store before turning around, "Hey, Kenma, you coming?"

 There was no response.

 "Kenma?" Kuroo approached the setter from behind, " you okay?"

"Kuroo...." The shorter boy looked visibly shaken.

"It wasn't just one ultra-rare....” The boy tilted the screen so that Kuroo could see, “There's _three_...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone punch me the next time I keep double spacing my writing.


	3. Chapter 3

"Who's that?" The girl whispered to her friend, eyeing the boy with dyed blonde hair, regrowth entirely visible along the top of his head.  

"Hmmm I think he's one of the second years..." Her friend replied.

"What's a second year doing here?"

"Who knows." The girl shrugged in response.

Kenma tried to keep his head bowed, wishing he could just disappear into the wall. Why he thought it was a good idea to venture down to the first floor was literally beyond him.

Glancing around quickly he peeked into classroom 1-A, scanning for a familiar figure before several sets of eyes turned to him, prompting him to dart off to the next classroom.

The second year set about surveying each classroom, keeping himself low and out of sight in case anyone noticed him before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find some unfamiliar faces staring at him.

"Are you looking for someone?"

"Ah....um....yeah." Kenma's eyes darted nervously to the floor as he nodded a little.

"Who are you looking for?"

"L-Lev....Haiba Lev...." Kenma mumbled quietly. He shouldn't have even bothered trying, why was he even here? Now he was trapped.

"Pardon? I couldn't really hear you."

 "It....it's nothing!" Kenma felt himself break out into cold sweat as he abruptly turned to leave before spotting the tall half Russian down the hall, towering over the rest of the students. "E-excuse me..." He bowed his head a little before making a break after his teammate.

The girls watched as the setter disappeared into the distance with a sense of urgency, "Wonder who he was looking for..."

 

"Who knows..."

 

* * *

 

Kenma walked briskly down the hall to where he'd seen the taller boy just moments ago, peering down the hallways to find that he'd already lost his teammate.

Maybe it was just a sign that he shouldn't have bothered to begin with. If he had to be brutally honest with himself, he felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment at losing sight of Lev.

Quietly the setter made his way outside, finding a peaceful spot in the shade before pulling out his phone. It felt a bit strange to play Gate Grand Fantasy without a certain someone screaming by his side.

"Kenma." A familiar voice broke through the silence, prompting the setter to look up.

"Kuroo."

"Heard you were looking for someone." The captain dropped himself down next to the shorter boy, shuffling a little to get himself comfortable.

"Not really..." Kenma automatically replied. He could spot a smirk stretching over his friend's face, a knowing one at that, which told him his lie wasn't as convincing as he wanted it to be.

 "I see." Kuroo leant back into the grass, still wearing the same smirk and a comfortable silence descended between the two.

 Kenma turned back to his game. The new event had just started and he was in the top hundred for the rankings which was a good start, but strategically he couldn't keep it up for too long.

"Ah shit." Kuroo shot up suddenly, scrambling to his feet, "forgot I was supposed to meet the maths teacher, gotta run!!" The captain sped off as quickly as he'd arrived so much that Kenma didn't even have time to respond. He could only watch as his friend disappeared into the distance.

 The setter let out the sigh he was holding in and looked down at his screen before locking his phone and throwing it down beside him. He fell back into the grass, watching the light filter through the leaves and hearing distant shouts of laughter. He didn't feel like playing at all, which frustrated him.

 

"Kenma-san!"

 

The voice that came from right beside him made his whole body jump and his heart skip a beat.

 Sitting up immediately he turned to face his surprise guest, "L-lev!"

 "Hello!" The half Russian sat with his long legs crossed, looking as energetic as ever, gazing at Kenma with the same curious look he always wore, "I heard from someone that you needed me for something?"

 Kenma looked away, ".... Not...really." He felt around for his phone, pretending to occupy himself by adjusting the brightness of his screen.

 Lev eyed the phone in Kenma's hands for a moment before asking, "Did want me to do a summon for you?"

 Sometimes Lev was awfully dense but undoubtedly there were certain moments which made Kenma reconsider that fact. Now was probably one of those moments.

 Kenma shied away a little, he didn't like being read so easily, only Kuroo was allowed to do that. He felt his own hands tighten a little around his phone, palms making contact with the cool surface of the screen that had finally gotten a moments rest.

 The second year lowered his head into his chest, mumbling into his shirt, hair falling over his face and hiding his eyes "... Don't...want..."

 Lev shuffled closer to hear the hushed murmurs from the setter, leaning in so close that his ears were merely centimetres away from the setter's bowed head.

 

"...I don't want to be a bother to you Lev."

 

The silver haired boy blinked a couple of times to process what he had heard.

 "What are you talking about Kenma-san?" His question was as sincere as clear water, to which Kenma lifted his head.

 "Besides..." He continued, "Kenma-san always does his best during matches and practice! There's no way that I wouldn't do my best for Kenma-san! When I see you excited about something, I feel excited too! So let me know what I can do and I'll do everything I can!"

 Sure Lev was an idiot, but he was a sincere idiot at that.

 Kenma let out a laugh, which had Lev puzzled. "Gacha isn't really something you can do your best at." And for a moment Lev could see a smile dancing on Kenma's lips.

"Then I'll prove you wrong Kenma-san!!" The giant leapt up energetically, lifting his arms into the air.

"Be quiet Lev, you're so noisy..." Kenma commented before passing the phone to the first year, "Who told you I was looking for you anyway."

"Kuroo-San told me not to tell you!"

 

This boy really was an idiot.

 

Kenma smiled to himself. Making a mental note to scold Kuroo later.

"KENMA-SAN LOOK THERE ARE FOUR GOLD SUMMONS!!"

"You know it's not good to tell lies Lev."

"I'm not lying!!"


	4. Chapter 4

Kenma didn't mind Lev as much. He was still annoying, but he didn't mind it as much. They would sometimes spend lunch times together and Lev would watch Kenma play Gate Grand Fantasy, asking the occasional question and expending useless energy in Kenma's place.

Of course the rest of the team noticed that the two played a little more cooperatively during practice. Just the slightest bit more attentive of each other's movements.

"It's like God has sent us a blessing" cried Yaku, wiping a tear from his eye as he watched the silver haired first year hit his fifth spike in a row without the ball making a home run.

"Did you see that Kenma-san? Fifth one in a row! You can do anything if you put your mind to it!" the first year had more energy in him than ever, "let's keep going!"

Kenma sighed a little, but didn't refuse, picking up another ball from the trolley next to him as Lev took a few steps back, eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Guess Kenma's games are good for something." Kuroo remarked, eying the two as he wiped the sweat off his face.

Yaku nodded in agreement before clapping his hands, "You two! You guys need to stop and have a drink and a break!"

Kenma obeyed without complaint, ambling over to the side of the gymnasium with Lev trailing close behind.

Sliding down against the wall Lev dropped next to the setter, offering him a bottle of water before taking a sip of his own.

There was a tangible silence before Kenma shot the taller boy a glance then redirected his gaze back to his knees.

 

"Lev..."

The half Russian perked up, whipping his head around attentively, "yes Kenma-san?"

 

"Why is volleyball…fun?"

 

Lev thought for a moment, taking another long drink from his bottle.

"What makes volleyball fun for you Kenma-san?"

The redirected question didn't catch Kenma off guard, more like he had expected it.

For a second he met Lev's gaze, holding it as he thought.

He nodded slightly before beginning, "volleyball is ...fun because you don't know what the opponent is like. You don't know if you'll win or lose." His golden eyes broke away, " and well, I guess it's no fun if you know you'll win a match...as much as you don't want to lose...." He looked back up at Lev to see if he was following. "But winning only feels good if you've played, contributed, fought with your own two hands." with that the setter looked down at his own palms, rough and hardened from years of volleyball.

Lev quietly listened, a slightly mysterious grin stretching over his face, "So...you want to get an ultra-rare by yourself?"

"Yeah." The setter locked eyes again with the to-be ace, a sort of competitive fire sparking in the space between them.

 

Lev wasn't as much of an idiot as Kenma had thought.

 

"Hey are you two going to sit there on your bums all day!?" The captain’s voice wangled the two from their locked stares. Lev being the first to jump up in response.

"Coming!"

The first year quickly turned to Kenma as he got up, "I'll do what I can to help you Kenma-san! So, let's win lots!", he grinned before sprinting over to re-join his teammates on the court.

"What does that even mean..." Kenma mumbled before dusting himself off and placing his drink bottle on the floor.

 

"There's no such thing as winning at gacha." He smiled to himself before making his way onto the court.

 

* * *

 

 

"I noticed you aren't getting Lev to do your summons anymore." Kuroo brought up casually during their lunch break.

"Yeah."

The captain propped his chin on his hand, gazing at Kenma with a knowing smile, "bet you it's got something to do with Takeshi talking to you the other day, am I right?"

The setter who had turned away, pretending to be occupied with his game, glanced about at the mention of their classmate.

"So I'm right."

"He made a fuss the other day when he barged in and saw all my ultra-rare characters....and he called everyone over..." Kenma winced at the memory, making a face as if he'd eaten a sour grape.

Kuroo nodded sympathetically, "if they found out about Lev's golden touch we wouldn't be able to see our little pup for days." He let out an exasperated sighed.

 

The setter kept silent, tapping intermittently at the screen.

 

"You know Lev would be happy to help everyone though." Kuro popped a bag of chips open, leaning back in his chair as he put one in his mouth.

The soft sounds from the game filled the air in response to the taller boy's remark.

"You don't like the thought of that huh."

For a moment Kenma's eyes turned to the boy sitting opposite him before recoiling back to the screen, "Of course not."

 

"So you are."

"I'm not."

 "Are so."

 "Not."

 "Are so."

 "...it would be a bother if he couldn't come to practice."

 "So you are bothered by it."

 "I'm not."

 

Kenma didn't like it when Kuroo read him so easily.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to anyone who read this whole fic! 
> 
> It started off as a small idea and I knew I didn't want to make it too long winded. I'm pretty happy with the length actually. I think I still have some issues with formatting on AO3 but I hope that didn't bother people too much.
> 
> I like Kenma and Lev as buddies, its cute, and thinking about it made me want to write about it because their dynamics and personalities are quite contrasting. But as always I worry a bit about characterising them properly ( and my writing in general).
> 
> Either way please feel free to tell me what you think :)
> 
> Till next time!


End file.
